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Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Rajawali & Starwood to Debut St. Regis Brand in Downtown Jakarta

Slated to Open in Early 2016, The St. Regis
Jakarta Will Bring Glamour, Timeless Traditions and Refined Service to a
Bustling Metropolis

Jakarta
– November 4, 2013 – Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT)
and Rajawali Group, one of the largest investment companies in Indonesia, today
announce the groundbreaking of The St. Regis Jakarta in Indonesia’s dynamic
capital. Set to open in 2016, the all-suite hotel brings the St. Regis brand’s
enduring legacy of uncompromising luxury and sophisticated service to Jakarta,
elevating the city’s ultra-luxury hospitality offerings in a mixed-use
development.

Located
in Jakarta's central business district along Jalan Gatot Subroto, near
Jakarta's Sudirman Central Business District and the Mega Kuningan area, the
integrated 141,000 square meter development encompasses a 124 room hotel, a
premium 47-story office tower, and a special food and beverage and retail
component. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, who also designed The St.
Regis Mexico City, the development joins the architecture firm’s distinguished
portfolio, which includes some of the tallest buildings and major urban
landmarks around the world. The development will also feature the work of the
renowned New York interior designer Alexandra Champalimaud and tropical urban
landscape designer Bill Bensley, named by TIME Magazine as one of the top five
hospitality designers worldwide.

“As
a capital city of one of the world’s most populous countries, urbanization and
infrastructure development will continue to play a vital role in furthering
growth in Indonesia,’ said Darjoto Setyawan, Managing Director, Communications
of Rajawali Corpora. “Through this iconic landmark and a global legacy of
Starwood and St. Regis, we hope to provide international visitors as well as
local connoisseurs with uncompromising services, and ultimately further enhance
Jakarta’s reputation as Asia’s strategic business and financial hub.”

This
announcement accompanies a 20-year strategic partnership that Rajawali has
forged with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, following the recent
success of The St. Regis Bali Resort, which has been named among the world's
best hotels by International Hotel Awards and named Asia's Leading Luxury
Resort by World Travel Awards 2011.

“Our
extremely successful partnership with Rajawali made The St. Regis Bali Resort
one of the world’s best resorts, and we are delighted to have the opportunity
to replicate the same success in the capital city of Jakarta,” said Stephen Ho,
President, Asia Pacific, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “We look forward to
bringing the timeless elegance, rich heritage and refined sophistication of the
St. Regis brand to the heart of Jakarta.”

Adding
to the hotel’s highly anticipated debut, the commercial office tower is poised
to become the premium address for multi-national corporations, local
conglomerates, and financial institutions, filling the void in international
standard and grade-A commercial facilities. Upon completion, the office tower
will be acquired by Singapore-based GICas part of its real estate portfolio.

“Jakarta
requires foreign capital inflow to become a truly international city, and by
bringing together the world’s best architects, designers and strategic capital
partners, this project allows us to deliver a world class development in
Indonesia,” said Shirley Tan, Acting CEO of Rajawali Property Group.

About Rajawali Group

The
Rajawali Group is one of Indonesia’s largest investors. Driven by the
philosophy of value creation, the Group has successfully engaged across a wide
range of industries, including hotel & property, agriculture, mining,
infrastructure, transportation, and media. Over the last three decades, the Group
has built a solid reputation for strategic investments, including Indonesia’s
first privately-owned television network Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia
(RCTI), the nation's first private mobile services operator PT XL Excelcomindo
Pratama, and growing PT Express Transindo Utama into the country's second
largest taxi operator by fleet size with a business model recognized by the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as an effective poverty reduction
program for emerging economies. The group's track record in value creation
includes the turnaround of PT Perusahaan Rokok Tjap Bentoel and partnering the
Government of Indonesia to significantly increase the shareholder value of the
country's largest cement maker PT (Persero) Semen Gresik Tbk. As part of the
Group’s vision of a sustainable future for Indonesia and Asia, it established
the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and initiated the Harvard Kennedy
School Indonesia Program to enhance research and education in public policy and
governance issues.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide

Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure
companies in the world with 1,169 properties in nearly 100 countries and
171,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully
integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences
with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury
Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton,
Aloft®, and Element®. The Company boasts one of the industry’s leading loyalty
programs, Starwood Preferred Guest(R) (SPG), allowing members to earn and
redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout
dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider
of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged
access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

About St. Regis Hotels & Resorts

Combining
classic sophistication with a modern sensibility, the St. Regis brand is
committed to delivering exceptional experiences at 31 luxury hotels and resorts
in the best addresses around the world. Since the opening of the first St.
Regis Hotel in New York City over a century ago by John Jacob Astor IV, the
brand has remained committed to an uncompromising level of bespoke and
anticipatory service for all of its guests delivered flawlessly by signature
St. Regis Butler Service. From Bal Harbour to Bangkok, Saadiyat Island to
Shenzhen, the St. Regis brand caters to a new generation of luxury travelers
and continues to thoughtfully build its portfolio in the most sought after
destinations at the heart of today’s grand tour. Plans for the brand to expand
its legacy include much-anticipated St. Regis Hotels & Resorts in the
Riviera Maya and in Asia, where St. Regis has announced plans to open hotels in
Changsha, Chengdu, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lijiang, Nanjing, New Delhi, Qingshui
Bay and Zhuhai. In the Middle East, St. Regis Hotels and Resorts will continue
to expand in Amman, Cairo, Istanbul and Dubai.